YUBA CITY, Calif. — This Memorial day, hundreds from across the country gathered at a church in Yuba City that is home to an outdoor memorial for fallen servicemembers since 9/11.
"A Grateful Nation Remembers,' an annual event hosted by Calvary Christian Center, brings comfort to loved ones marking the somber holiday. 21 panels list the names of over 7,000 fallen servicemembers who have served the country since September 11, 2001.
New this year are the 13 names of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice during the U.S.'s withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, including Marine Sergeant Nicole Gee of Roseville.
“Each one of these men and women named on this wall... we’ll never see them again, and this is how we remember them," said BethAnn Dively, a Gold Star Wife.
From Connecticut, Dively has been coming to this memorial service for the better part of 15 years, finding kinship from an extended family who share in her pain. It is also where her husband, Major Duane Dively, is memorialized.
“22 June, 2005, his plane went down and crashed, and he never came home," she said.
Dively was 43 years old and stationed at Beale Air Force Base. He could have retired from the Air Force, but he carried a love for flying since childhood.
His U2 spy plane crashed while returning to its base in the United Arab Emirates. His wife said she was informed his mission was successful before the fatal crash.
“That just pleases me to know he made a huge contribution towards our freedoms," she said.
Around her neck, she wears the necklace that he flew up over 70,000 feet during his qualifying solo fight as a U2 pilot. It was a gift to her for her support and sacrifice as a military wife.
Dively said she hopes people take a moment during Memorial Day to remember men and women, like her husband and the families they leave behind.
“After the ultimate sacrifice, we carry the pain of grief and loss and also a sense of proudness for what they did,” she said.
The church opened its memorial for the public this week and held its powerful “A Grateful Nation Remembers” ceremonies Monday, which included a full-scale replica of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, reenactments of moments from the Afghanistan and Vietnam wars, and a flyover by Beale AFB.
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